Soda Blasting Applications
Soda blasting can be used for cleaning timber, wood, oak beams, oak floors, doors, stairs &
bannisters, cars, boat hulls, masonry, and food processing equipment. Soda blasting can also be
used to remove graffiti and to clean structural steel. Soda blasting is very effective for mould
and fire/smoke damage clean-up as it cleans and deodorizes.

Soda Blasting Equipment
A soda blaster is a self-contained system that includes a blast generator, high pressure
compressed air, moisture decontamination system, blast hose, and a blast nozzle. The blast
nozzle in soda blasting applications is not a typical wear part, as a result nozzles can be
ceramic or metal, such as tungsten carbide. The pressures used are very low compared to
sandblasting e.g. 20psi as opposed to 120psi. View our full range of Microstrip Soda Blast
Equipment.

The blasting material consists of formulated sodium bicarbonate (also known as baking soda).
Blasting soda is an extremely friable material that has micro fragmentation on impact, literally
exploding away surface materials without damage to the substrate.”

With over 15 years experience in supplying soda blast equipment and blast media, we have an
unrivalled knowledge in the use of this technology, here are some of the common questions we are
asked.

You could, but this would give very poor results, for efficient soda
blasting each crystal should impact on the surface being cleaned, this
requires very precise metering of the media which is not possible
through standard blast equipment, excess soda consumption would also be
very costly and increase the clean-up time. Our Microstrip
equipment is designed to give very precise metering of abrasive and
blast pressure to give the most efficient and cost effective blasting.

A Microstrip blast system and a clean dry air supply are the main
requirements, the Microstrip
is supplied complete with a blast hose and nozzle ready for dry or wet
blasting, the water is only used to suppress dust and can be supplied
from a normal tap. The air supply will depend on the size of system but
should be dry and at a pressure of around 7 – 8 bar with sufficient
volume for the machine.

Yes, mobile systems are very popular, for this you will need a mobile
compressor and in order to remove the moisture from the air, an aftercooler
will be required. The Microstrip systems can be supplied fitted with an
air powered water pump which can draw water from a tank when wet
blasting.

The Microstrip, aftercooler and tank can be supplied separately for van
mounting with the compressor either towed or also van mounted,
alternatively we can supply a complete self contained package such as
our Mobile 40 machine.

This depends on the type of work you wish to do, the speed of work is
related to the size of blast nozzle,(the size of the vessel is
irrelevant) a larger nozzle requires more air volume hence a larger
compressor, for mobile systems this is limited to the size that can be
reasonably towed or mounted in a van so that will determine the most
suitable system.

Yes if the cabinet is designed for it, soda is not re-usable and blasting
with soda creates large amounts of fine dust which standard cabinets
cannot cope with hence the visibility is so poor work is impossible, the
Gritco Glovebox systems are designed to work with soda and have
excellent visibility with low abrasive consumption.

Yes, all the blast equipment we supply is manufactured in Europe and
conforms to the "European Pressure Equipment Directive"(PED). This is a
legal requirement for blast equipment supplied in the UK and is
confirmed on the Certificate of Conformity supplied with every blast
machine. We also provide an operator training course free of charge when
supplying blast equipment.

Not quite, ARMEX® is sodium bicarbonate that is specifically
formulated for abrasive blasting, that is why is says "blast media" on
the bags. The crystals are angular and the media contains flow aids and
moisture inhibitors not present in ordinary soda, this makes ARMEX® far
superior than just soda when used for blasting. If it doesn't say "blast
media" on the bag then it isn't made for blasting!

That depends on the application, soda is a soluble soft abrasive used for
non-destructive blast cleaning and is excellent for many applications
such as some building cleaning & graffiti removal, monuments, food
industry, machinery & component refurbishment, fire damage,
aviation, coatings removal from delicate substrates. However in some
applications, the use of a very fine specialist hard abrasive such as
Archifine, used at low pressure is more suitable and cost effective,
this is particularly the case for cleaning brick & sandstone or for
paint stripping from steel vehicle body shells.

Yes, the Microstrip machines are designed for use with fine abrasives
such as ARMEX® Blast Media, Archifine and other fine media's. Optional
nozzles are available to allow wet blasting with hard abrasives.

To make a successful, competitive blasting business it is essential to be
able to operate with more than one abrasive.

All blasting can create dust and it is a fact that soda blasting can be
quite dusty due to the fine nature of the abrasive, this can be reduced
by wet blasting (all Microstrip machines are supplied with a wet nozzle)
but it is essential when carrying out a job, that consideration is given
to containment of dust and collection /disposal of waste.

The Blast-mate
EXC machine is designed for contractors who don't blast with
soda but who want to use conventional abrasives including fine ones such
as "Archifine" with much lower abrasive consumption and greater control
than traditional blast equipment. Compared to a standard blast system,
the EXC has precise control of blast pressure and can use up to 75% less
abrasive per hour, this results in less waste to dispose of, less dust
and the ability to undertake fine work.

Yes, we carry stock of equipment and abrasives, we have demonstration
facilities at our depot and would advise anyone thinking of purchasing a
machine to come and see our equipment and talk to us. Our advice costs
nothing.

Please contact us for further information about any of our services or products.